asado-focused, dodam cameo, asadodam: slice of life, childhood friends to lovers, fluff, slight angst
asahi is a shy person, he will always hide behind his mother's figure whenever a gathering of her friends happens. the little boy freezes the hold wrapping of her point finger. like the situation he is currently in mrs. kim's house. though there are only three mothers present, the curious yet timid soul can only look around to observe the house's decorations in avoidance of being interviewed. the peaceful background chatting keeps its demeanour until the house owner crouches to his level. asahi can not help but leans back towards his mother for a safety distance. thankfully mrs. kim does not look offended when she coo.
"hey sahi, do you like to play lego?" the last words perks his interest like no other will, but remembering his calm persona he glances to his mother for permission. despite knowing that she will encourage him to do things out of his comfort zone anyways, she most likely will say yes. which mrs. hamada agrees to it wholeheartedly expectedly. with the guide to the living room and a box fill with the lego pieces, asahi peacefully settles in his imaginative world. "hi hyung! can we join you building a dinosaur?"
an enthusiastic high pitch voice startles asahi, making him lose his balance that knocks the medium tall structure to fall. "oops, sorry hyung.." he can not be slightly upset about his masterpiece when his eyes does not leave a sight from the ground. he hears the sound of legos meeting each other but he can only see from his peripheral vision, feeling a tad bit nervous when he sees four hands instead of two right in front of him. fumbling around the pieces, trying their best to fit back as before. "I'm sorry, please don't cry.." they panic, thinking that he is streaming tears. rejecting the assumption, asahi breaks his character to deny the boy. "I'm not crying, I'm just really shy.." well, that goes on too fine until he mentions about himself. apparently it goes unnoticed to the particular fella because the next moment he knows, the boys are getting closer to him. before that, asahi really appreciate how they ask to enter his comfort zone.
he nods to respond their politeness. "is it okay if I rub your back? papa always give them when I don't feel good." the smaller one looks at him as if he hung the stars in the night sky. asahi likes physical affection, though not when a literal stranger does it. but he allows the shown way of apologising to be an exception. he feels goosebumps when a gentle body softly pokes his side while he feels the soothing massage. the former act is the ruffles from the other boy's full curly hair onto his hip. "hyungie smells nice!" a tone down voice follows in the compliment. asahi suddenly gets a warm sensation in his heart and in both of his cheeks. he rarely takes direct kindness but he thinks that his smile without looking forced will do just alright. "my name is dobby, and this is damie hyung!" doyoung is more energetic than yedam beside him. but despite the subtle contrast of opposites, the two gets along pretty well.
"let's build a dinosaur together!" asahi never thought in his life that he meets two amazing souls that will colour his life to a blooming garden. "I want to make a robot though..?" asahi suggests. "I like panther pink the best!" yedam also says. the new ideas earn a shared glance from the three before an agreement is taken into account by doyoung's conclusion. "alright, let's make all of them at once!" laughter breaks and the three starts building. since that fateful evening, asahi is taken to many places in town, with both doyoung and yedam right nearby him. most of the time he only watches silently and smiles from time to time when doyoung gets excited about certain things, or when yedam receives his gift doll for his birthday, or when the three start school in the same building. they stick to each other like fine shoe glue.
asahi, yedam and doyoung practically share everything together and the more time they spend on warming up towards another, the more comfortable they get. affection hugs, platonic kisses, bathing together, sleep over, stay up late at night star gazing on the backyard, making music and dance to the ready drafts. with all of that, yedam and especially doyoung has become asahi's core. the reason to breathe and look forward to life beautifully. the two are his good companion, a comforting distraction, place to share your worries and input encouraging words when times get tough. he likes the trio. so the day when he finds out that doyoung is moving away in a short notice, asahi's heart breaks into million pieces. heck does he give a damn care that he doesn't know what a heartbreak feels like but he will assume that it hurts. he could not stop crying from the day he accidentally overheard conversation.
the classmates do not question him when asahi barges into their room for the search of doyoung and yedam, not caring about the collective shouts thrown at the skipping students. "you were going to live abroad and you won't even tell us the moment you knew..?" they are now settling on the rooftop bench, facing anything than each other. asahi can hear the open and closing mouth from doyoung, but no sound comes out of him. "I'm sorry hyung." the sigh alerts asahi and yedam to look at him closing his eyes in agony. "I just don't want to worry either of you, hyungs. I know that it will take a toll on both."
"and to think that it is any better for us to know the last minute?" yedam asks with a rising tone. his eyebrows furrow showing how ridiculously selfless his friend can be. "dobby, we could have spend more time together and cherish the memories to our heart." he faces him helplessly, unknown what to do.
"I'm not blaming you for my betrayal feeling, hell I'm disappointed in myself that I'm not making you comfortable enough for you to share your burden. doyoung, you are valid to think that way. I don't want you to feel otherwise. but know that me, and asa hyung are always here." yedam's affirmations words never miss to hit asahi's crying button. it reflects him to regretfully say the demeaning selfish words. "can't you just.. stay? you are always welcome to live with either of us.." asahi can feel his voice breaking any time soon to a sob. doyoung faces him and yedam with another tired sigh. "I can't, I have to go."
"as much as I do not want to leave you two, it is not like I have a choice either, sort of." he sheepishly rubs the his nape. "a year ago papa return from finland and he advised me to enrol in the higher education there. it will be beneficial as a starting base for my long awaited dream profession. no opportunity like this will come again sooner." with an oof mutter he huffs from the surprise tight hug, doyoung melts in and lets themselves live the cry. the three fall into silence, busy in their own thoughts realising that they are going through a rough denial. doyoung then speaks in hope to lighten the atmosphere. "hey, hey, the air feels so suffocating I can barely breathe. we can still face time each other, you know.. besides you two are probably sick of m–" yedam cuts him off. "it's not the same, doyoung. and don't ever joke about the last one either." asahi catches a glimpse of yedam's anger shifting to a sad worry gaze as he intertwines their fingers together along with his. yedam breathes in before continuing again. "stop looking down on yourself for giggles we–or anyone on the matter–won't do if you were expecting them by the way."
asahi's right hand feels the loss of security when yedam erratically pulls his grip, but he understands as to why he does it as soon he watches his hold softly place under doyoung's jaw, bringing their foreheads to touch together. he doesn't miss the comforting whispers: "there are better coping mechanism, doyoung ah.. and I really cannot stress this enough that we're always willing to help you with open arms." asahi can tell that yedam's words move him in an internal level the moment doyoung tightly grip his left hand, as if he is afraid it will disappear when he lets go. it is like an unspoken command for allowing to get closer to the hug. the last words yedam let out sends shiver down asahi's spine, "you're a lot more than that, we like your comforting presence." he cries. "thank you for reaching out to me." a 2 d
"I'll get going, thank you for everything so far. please take care and let's call a lot!" doyoung's farewell words still linger in asahi's head in quite a while and probably it is the same case for yedam's too. sudden personality shifts can be seen, even though the hamada family and the bang family are interacting. the gap between them is visible heavily. they slowly part ways to individual interests. the two feels guilty for the longing of one another, faking their true self whenever doyoung video calls. until a happened event ticks them off. "are you two alright?" doyoung asks from the other line, asahi and yedam stops almost breakout fist fight to respond him. "yeah, we are. just tired after the exams, dobby you are so lucky!"
yedam hides with a genuine exclamation, asahi crosses his arms in front of his chest, sulking. "it's already late at night and we gotta continue studying. it was nice talking to you in awhile!" asahi adds. "awh okay, hope you two gets lots of rests!" still thankfully oblivious, doyoung bids his farewell. "you too, dobby. I'll close the call now. good day!" they argue a broken miss, secret mutual crush. graduation surprise party. air hug. kiss. "you're the best gift in my life." y 2 a, so. it was true all along? the confession if you're still confused of what I meant.. it took you guys long enough to admit." doyoung jokes playfully.
